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1st Cairngorn Penal Legion
Recently leaving their mark in history for betraying the Imperium and devoting themselves to Slaanesh under the name Ecstasy Of Fulmination, the 1st Cairngorn Penal Legion was a regiment initially focused on support and siege roles. This changed under their last commander, who implemented a shift in doctrine towards terror and assault tactics. History Origins The mining world Cairngorn is a barren, hostile world on the outskirts of Imperial territory, located on the northern fringe of the Gothic Sector between the Segmenta Obscurus and Ultima. It's rocky, mountainous terrain features vertical, circular shafts all over it's surface, sometimes several kilometers in width and depth. It is speculated that they are leftover mining efforts of a long-forgotten alien species, though no remains of them have been found. In mid-M38, the planet was re-colonized as a penal mining colony, the resources intended to be used in the ever increasing war-efforts of the Imperium. Thus, millions of convicts from all over the Segmentum were shipped to Cairngorn, overseen by a comparatively small force of PDF lead by an officer of the Adeptus Arbites. The number of prisoners was severely thinned out in the first years, given the harsh conditions, accidents, cave-ins and the clash between the more and the less violent convicts. What remained were a hardy, tenacious core of men and women, slowly adapting to their environment. Peril In The Darkness When the Imperium was thrown into disarray by the Despoiler's most recent Black Crusade, Cairngorn received less and less supplies, which brought the morale of the population to a dangerous low. Rebellion seemed unavoidable, but the prisoner's ambitions were cut short when a raiding party of Dark Eldar emerged over the planet at the dawn of the 42nd Millennium. Slaughtering the inexperienced and under-equipped PDF, they made their way into the caves and abducted thousands of prisoners before they could organize themselves properly. Eventually retreating deeper into the tunnels, the prisoners picked up the weapons of their former wardens and prepared what seemed to be a last stand. However, after a costly first weeks, the Xenos seemed to suddenly fall into chaos after the prisoners managed to crush a particular large force of them in an artifically created cave-in. Unknown to them, they had eliminated one of the Raiding Party's leaders, which lead to vicious infighting over the succession of his possession. Attempting to emulate the tactics of their invaders, a series of desperate counter-attacks was launched and the prisoners actually managed to drive the Dark Eldar back, although suffering great losses. This event, paired with the eventual arrival of an Imperial force sealed the fate of the Xenos and they were largely annihilated when they attempted to retreat into the Webway. The relief of the convicts did not last for long and neither did their celebration for their presumed liberators. The imperial force had not come to their aid as it first seemed. In fact, they had been entirely unaware of the state of Cairngorn and the presence of the Dark Eldar. They had come to conscribe the prisoners into a regiment to aid in the effort of re-establishing peace and security in the Imperium after the end of the Age of Apostasy. The regiment was raised as a penal legion with a focus on supporting roles and sabotage, making use of the prisoners' expertise with explosives and combat in tight surroundings. Times Of Trouble Befitting their status as criminals and essentially lost to the light of the Imperium, few commanders made true effort to treat the 1st Cairngorn as much more than expendable. Smallest musconducts were often taken as reason for large-scale, draconic punishments. Leading in this style of command was Colonel Horymir Biskop, who saw it necessary to enforce loyalty and discipline by unrelenting force. The service as a regiment of the Imperial Guard held few differences from the life on Cairngorn. Operating explosives and heavy equipment in the cramped, hot tunnels now held the additional danger of being shot by the enemy or the regiment's own Commissar. It wasn't long until the morale of the regiment was at a permanent low. As each regiment newly raised on Cairngorn received the designation '1st', a sense of futility was deeply instilled with the troop's culture. A Shift In Tone Soon after the beginning of the 42nd Millennium, another 1st Cairngorn was raised and put under the command of Colonel Dougal Monroe. Though far from the nearly tyrannical style of command of his predecessors, his preference to give orders from the safety of a fortified of an HQ did little to make his troops bond with him. Colonel Monroe led the Penal Legion through various campaigns, fulfilling their assigned duties to his best abilities, albeit usually at the cost of heavy losses. Monroe regarded his men as lost to the Imperium, only able to regain their value by dying in service for it. His uncompromising beliefs were not reciprocated with admiration. After his death at the hand of Ork Kommandoz during the Liberation of Eachann and the shift of command to his second in command, Major Evangelija Atanasov, conditions for the legionnaires changed drastically. Rather than confining them to support and sabotage roles, the Major took the initiative on increasing occasions, commanding her force in follow up attacks and into breaches. Eventually, this led to the 1st Cairngorn being deployed to missions outside of their original specifications. This shifted their role from a supporting to that of a terror and oppression force. Betraying The Imperium The regiment's heresy remained unknown up until the Scouring Of Kadukus in 071.M42, though the Inquisition was able to trace it back to the regiment's deployment on the Feudal World Ruun in 030.M42. What had been presented as a necessary purge of the deeply corrupted administration of the planet was revealed to have been a gruesome massacre with the goal to destroy Ruun's ruling elite and enslave large parts of the civilian inhabitants. Afterwards, the regiment continued to deploy regularly for several campaigns before contact ceased in 054.M42. After six years without a trace of the regiment's whereabouts, it was declared lost. Imperial officials only began to see the full story when the regiment's iconography as well as Major Atanasov were recognized on Kadukus, now known as the slaaneshi warband Ecstasy Of Fulmination. Campaigns * Liberation of Eachann (021.M42): A once-defeated Ork warband returns to Eachann, to which the 1st Cairngorn replies along with a contingent of other imperial forces. The acting commander, Colonel Dougal Monroe, loses his life in combat. * The Massacre of Ruun (030.M42):'' The Feudal world of Ruun suffered large-scale riots and civil uprisings, to which the 1st Cairngorn was deployed as a response. It was later reported that a Chaos Cult devoted to Khorne had taken root on Ruun and the allegedly corrupt elite had to be eliminated. Navy Commander Rakshata Vaati betrays the Imperium and allies herself with the newly formed renegades. Leadership Colonel Dougal Monroe Revered as a war hero on his homeworld Eachann, Dougal Monroe volunteered for the command of the 1st Cairngorn Penal. Widely considered a capable, charismatic leader, some argue the reason for his decision was a feeling of duty towards the lost souls of Cairngorn, while others assume it credited to his vanity and a sense of self-importance. Eventually, Colonel Monroe would meet his end on his very homeworld, Eachann, in a campaign against a force of a returning Ork warband. In a coordinated attack with the 4th Eachann Fusiliers and 6th Drop Troopers, the 1st Cairngorn was deployed to destroy the energy generator of the Ork's base. The operation was successful, but according to Major Atanasov and Commissar Ibarra, Colonel Monroe was killed by an ambush during the peak of the battle. Major Eangelija Atanasov Hailing from Jovk, a world featuring a strict social order with the Astra Militarum as the decisive ladder to climb up in society, Major Atanasov has been recorded as a hard worker rather than a gifted genius. Removed from her regiment in accordance with a dropped case of disobedience in battle, she was shifted to the Cairngorn 1st Penal along with a demotion from Colonel to Major. She served as second-in-command to Colonel Monroe and acted independently, though in accordance with orders, on various occasions. During the Liberation of Eachann, Major Atanasov assumed command after Colonel Monroe was reported as killed in action. Subsequently, she was assigned command of the Penal Legion, quickly moving to increase the roles it could fill and shifting the focus from a supporting role to that of a shock and terror force. This happened as she created faits accomplii, retrospectively granting pass for her acts of independency by achieving success. In hindsight, those are interpreted as preparations for the eventual fall to Chaos of both the Major and the regiment, though it remains unknown at which point Atanasov came into contact with the Ruinous Powers. Commissar Frantziska Ibarra On the other hand, the Commissar of the regiment, Frantziska Ibarra is more feared than any kind of enemy, enforcing discipline with the ruthlessness and iron hand synonymous for her rank. Along with Colonel Monroe and Major Atanasov, she was installed as the original command unit of the 1st Cairngorn. Keeping up discipline and morale, difficult even under the usual circumstances of a regiment, proved especially hard when leading a force of forcefully conscripted criminals. Ibarra met the legionnaires outbursts of disobedience and violence with uncompromising punishments, conducted in public and featuring humiliation at their core. Following the Liberation of Eachann, they reportedly increased in severity and frequency, justified with the death of Colonel Monroe as an inexcusable neglect. Surprising for Imperial scholars, Commissar Ibarra not only survived the regiment's betrayal, but now holds a leading role within it's new organization. Organization The regiment follows the standard organization laid down by the Astra Militarum. Divided into companies, platoons and squads, officers were allowed to establish themselves through trust of their comrades but if necessary removed forcefully. Recruitment As the name implies, the 1st Cairngorn draws it's numbers mainly from their homeworld. The harsh conditions of Cairngorn combined with the legionnaires' exclusively criminal background provide crafty, under-handed soldiers with little sense of pride or honor in exchange for raw, unrefined potential. Additionally, newly applied under Major Atanasov, local governments often emptied their prisons into the penal legion in exchange for personal favors or simply to reduce the numbers of criminals under their reign. Culture Very few legionnaires hoped to ever achieve redemption in the eyes of the Emperor. Most commonly, their explained goal was to simply survive whatever mission they were assigned to. To achieve this end, absolutely all means were considered justified. This included bolstering their ranks with local criminals as well as, pressing, swindling or gambling spare ammunition, rations and equipment from other regiments or the local inhabitants. This practice was conducted in secret under Colonel Monroe, however and only put into open use when Major Atanasov took command. The violent nature of their lives before and within the legion was always apparent, and legionnaires fighting each other over food, ammunition or alcohol was a common reoccurence. Just as common, however, were these fights with members of allied forces as the slightest provocation, whether intended or not, was often enough to set of a short-fused legionnaire. The newly assigned members tended to attempt to secure their position with displays of physical strength and ruthlessness. These ambitions were immediately beaten down mercilessly by the veterans, teaching humility through physical trauma. As Commissar Ibarra focused her disciplinary sanctions against a hard core of repeated offenders,the broad mass of the regiment experienced an additional sense of relief. Now largely free of any kind of restraint, the legionnaires' criminal urges run rampant once the heat of battle rose. This lead to a number of atrocities committed on duty, which lacked retaliation in face of the Imperium's situation and Atanasov's ability to suppress or persuade persistent complaints about her regiment's conduct. Their newly-gained freedom led to Major Atanasov gaining the image of a liberator and benefactor from her men, laying root for a deep, unwavering loyalty which carried the regiment into heresy along with their idol. Combat Doctrine Combining ruthless criminal backgrounds with expertise in explosives due to a life as miners, the 1st Cairngorn received additional training in siege and sabotage warfare upon their conscription. In the first half of their history, they were almost exclusively deployed as field engineers, tunnel builders and wall breachers. The stress and dangers of working on a battlefield and in confined surroundings took their toll on the legionnaires both mentally and physically, which rendered the survivors to true masters of their craft. Under Atanasov, the legion expanded rather than shifted their repertoire. Now, they would follow through on the breaches they created, praying on the defenders. Initially observed with suspicion, no one could argue the effectiveness of their efforts away, which granted Atanasov all the legitimacy she needed. From then on, the 1st Cairngorn was listed as a terror force, deployed to scare defiant governors back into line or retaliate against worker riots on factory worlds. A role the 1st Cairngorn seemed to fulfill with eager glee. Equipment Barely equipped the minimum amount to reach combat ability, regiments fighting alongside the 1st Cairngorn often find pieces of their equipment missing. Due to their designation, the penal legion featured originally no vehicles at all. Later on, as their change in tactics was recognized, they received a small number of Hellhounds and Chimaeras to support their role. General Equipment: * 9-70 Entrenching Tool: A foldable shovel, essentially. * Combat Drugs Weapons: * Lascarbines (M-35): A standard pattern Lasgun. Unspectacular and reliable. * Flamers * Shotguns Irregular Equipment: * '''Lascutter:' Industrial tools adapted for military use in sieges and as a powerful close-range weapon. * Mining Lasers: Heavy mining equipment modified to breach the heaviest of fortifications with ease. * Stub Guns, Heavy Stubbers, Auto-Guns: Weapons using the ancient principle of solid ammunition. Less powerful than LasWeapons, their high rate of fire and easy production makes them a viable alternative. * Shotlas: An illegal modification of the Lasgun. Rigged to discharge more energy per shot, precision and range suffer greatly. Explosives * Mining Explosives: Strong explosives able to blow through rock and bunker walls with equal ease. * Plasma Charges: Mines suited to penetrate strong armor while sacrificing area coverage. * Shredder Mines: Launching shrapnel into the aimed direction, these explosives usually cover tunnels or other narrow enclosures. * Spring Mines: Able to be launched remotely, these mines spring in the air before discharging, covering a large area. * Grenades: Whether simple, Imperial standard frag grenades or makeshift hallucigen grenades, all that explodes is readily deployed against the warband's enemies. Vehicles: * Goliath Trucks: A relic from the Ecstasy's homeworld, these sturdy and versatile vehicles serve as transports and light infantry support, usually equipped with Heavy Stubbers or Autocannons. * Sentinels * Chimaera * Hellhounds Quotes By About (Add your own) Category:BacaloV Category:Imperial Guard Regiments Category:Penal Legions